Blood Earth

synopsis

Kucheipadar, a Khonda tribal village in Odisha, India, is a bauxite-rich block that, since India’s economic liberalization, has been the subject of violent conflict between the indigenous Adivasi inhabitants and a mining venture. The singing and writing of songs has come to articulate creative forms and political structures that steered a resistance movement from subalternity, through solidarity, into dissolution. Blood Earth interweaves the efforts to record song, farming, village life, and a political meeting to improvise a junction between voice, music, silence, sound, and noise.

about the director

Kush Badhwar is an artist and filmmaker operating across media, art, cinematic and other social contexts. He is interested in the ecology of sound and image across stretches of time and political change. He believes in the potential of research and collectivity which has involved working closely with wala, Word Sound Power and Khanabadosh.